City comparison
Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City vs Istanbul
One person needs about €799 a month in Ho Chi Minh City and €963 in Istanbul, rent included — Ho Chi Minh City is 21% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Istanbul the way you live in Ho Chi Minh City on €3,000, you need
€3,616/ month net
21% more than today (+€616)
- Ho Chi Minh City today
- Basket €799 · left over €2,201 (73%)
- Istanbul at the matched salary
- Basket €963 · left over €2,653 (73%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 166% over in Istanbul (comfortable) vs 163% in Ho Chi Minh City. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City
Very low burn rate and a fast-growing dev scene; visas need planning.
Monthly budget: €799
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇹🇷 Istanbul
Enormous, cheap in euro terms, but inflation reprices everything every few months.
Monthly budget: €963
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Ho Chi Minh City or Istanbul?
On salary, Istanbul pays more for tech roles (€1,600 versus €1,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €637 in Istanbul at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €480 in Ho Chi Minh City against €550 in Istanbul. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Ho Chi Minh City at 77 and Istanbul at 70 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.